


Plotting a New Course

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-06
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 17:13:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1825948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Rose, post-Journey’s End. <i>“I’m not him ‘cos he wouldn’t tell you he loves you? Rose, do you have any idea how screwed up that sounds?”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Title** : Plotting a New Course (1/4)  
 **Disclaimer** : I don’t own Doctor Who.  
 **Pairing/Characters** : Ten II/Rose, Jackie, Tyler clan  
 **Summary** : The Doctor and Rose, post-Journey’s End. _“I’m not him ‘cos he wouldn’t tell you he loves you? Rose, do you have any idea how screwed up that sounds?”_  
 **Rating** : PG13  
 **Spoilers** : Through 4x13.  
 **Word Count** : 3, 129  
 **A/N** : Oddly, I haven’t written a fic set directly post-JE yet. I guess I just needed a few months to think about it first. World building is a daunting prospect! :D

Thanks to [](http://mrv3000.livejournal.com/profile)[**mrv3000**](http://mrv3000.livejournal.com/) for the beta read!

“It’s still you, then?”

Jackie’s stare made him feel itchy and he idly scratched the back of his neck, peering hopefully at the door in the hopes that Rose would walk through and save him. They’d walked to the nearest hotel without speaking to each other and with Jackie occasionally complaining about the weather (“That sun will give us heatstroke if we stay out here much longer”) and her ankles (“Haven’t been the same since I gave birth to Tony,” she’d said, leaving Doctor with the unpleasant task of wondering what childbirth had to do with ankles). But Rose had held his hand and that seemed like enough.

They’d barely reached the hotel when she dropped his hand and declared she was going for a walk. She hadn’t been back since.

It occurred to him that maybe Rose wasn’t coming back at all, that maybe she’d gone to test out her dimensional cannon again to try and find the other Doctor. _Which wouldn’t work_ , he told himself determinedly, with a confidence he didn’t feel.

Rose _had_ kissed him. That meant… well, he didn’t know what it meant, exactly, but he didn’t think it meant she’d leave. Besides, it was cold out and she was only wearing that blue jacket—she’d have to come back soon.

Slowly, he turned his gaze back to Jackie.

“Yeah,” he said, “it’s me.”

Her slap caught him completely off-guard.

“ _Ow_!” he yelped, cradling his cheek, “What on earth was that for?”

“You _left_ her on a BEACH!” Jackie exploded. “She spent years trying to find you again and you chucked her out like she meant nothing.”

“What?” he said, not quite certain whether he should be ducking another slap or offended that Jackie had just called Rose ‘nothing.’ “Now, hold on, I might be me, but that… that is not fair.”

Then, without warning, Jackie threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Hard. He flailed once and then settled for hugging her back, patting her gently on the back like one might try and pacify a rabid racoon.

“It’s good that you’re here,” Jackie said, still clutching him tightly. The Doctor began to worry he might pass out from oxygen deprivation. “She hasn’t been the same since you two were separated. But it will be better now, won’t it? The pair of you, you’ll look out for each other.”

“Yeah, Jackie,” he managed. “We will. I promise.”

She pulled away and the Doctor took in a much-needed gulp of air. She looked a bit contrite. “Sorry about hitting you.”

“That’s all right,” the Doctor said hurriedly, oddly pleased that Jackie seemed to accept him as himself. If only Rose would…

He glanced hopefully at the door again. She didn’t walk through it.

Jackie tutted. “Go on, then. Go and look for her.”

“I don’t know, Jackie,” he said because _of course_ he wanted nothing more than to be with Rose after so many years, but he wasn’t sure he could quite take Rose looking at him like he was only second best.

He felt a sudden stir of empathy for Martha. How had she stood it, all that time?

“Pete is sending a car by to collect us tomorrow morning,” said Jackie. “Nothing much to do until then.”

He couldn’t stop his scoff. “A _car_? It’ll take us ages to get back to London. I’ll be grey before we even arrive. Blimey, is this what humans do? Spend half their lives in these confined spaces trying to get from one place to another…” the Doctor abruptly trailed off as Jackie folded her arms over her chest and raised her chin. He cleared his throat. “My that was nice of Pete, sending a car over to collect us. I ought to thank him when we get back.”

Jackie sighed and unfolded her arms. “You’re not going to convince her if you hide in here, you know.”

He blinked at her, momentarily stunned by how perceptive she could be. “No, I suppose not.”

“Well, then,” she jerked her head towards the door. “On your way. Just make sure you’re back to catch that car tomorrow morning.”

He grinned. “Right.” And then, “Thanks, Jackie.”

*****

It didn’t take the Doctor long to find her. He followed her footprints in the sand, leading away from the hotel and back down to the beach.

Rose was sitting on a rock overlooking the ocean, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees. She stared intently at the beach, body still, like a statue. Her nose was red, but it didn’t look like she’d been crying. She shivered in the wind and then turned to look at him as he approached.

Her stare was guarded and mistrustful. She didn’t say anything as he approached, didn’t even crack a smile. His one heart began to pound very fast. He didn’t think it should hurt this much—didn’t think it was possible for Rose to hurt him like this, with just a look—but it did. It would be fascinating, really (all those human hormones and adrenaline reacting with his Time Lord genes) if it wasn’t such an effort to keep himself moving.

Finally, he came to a stop in front of her. Rose brushed her hair out of her face. “Hi,” she said softly.

“Hi,” he responded. “Rose—”

“Doctor—” she said at the same time.

They stopped and stared at each other. It had only been a few hours ago she had kissed him, and back then it had actually seemed worth it—turning part human, giving up the TARDIS, everything.

“Doctor,” she began again, voice breaking. “I just need some time—”

“It’s me,” he interrupted. Time. It suddenly felt like he had so little of that left. “Rose, it’s me.”

She shook her head. “You’re different.”

“Well, yeah, I am a bit. I’ve got bits of Donna and bits of humanity—but, Rose, it’s still me.”

Rose’s nose was beginning to run from the cold and she absently wiped it with her sleeve. “The fact that you said it at all just proves it.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I’m not him ‘cos he wouldn’t tell you he loves you? Rose, do you have any idea how screwed up that sounds?”

He could tell that he’d gotten through to her. She looked away from him, amused smile tugging at her mouth. “Suppose it is, yeah.”

He held out a hand. “Come on, come back to the hotel. It’s freezing out here.”

Rose glanced at his hand. He wriggled his fingers. She hesitated.

“I’ll buy you chips,” he needled. “Answer any questions you’ve got – just… just come with me.”

She looked at him then, perhaps sensing the desperation in his voice. “He didn’t say goodbye,” she began, apparently uninterested in the offer for chips. Well, it wasn’t like he had any money anyway. “He just turned and left.”

Her voice broke on the last word and he felt his heart stutter in sympathy. Oh. So _that_ was what really bothered her. Blimey, no wonder Jackie hit him.

Still, if it had been him—which it had been, technically speaking, which made him quite the authority on the subject—he reckoned he would have done exactly the same.

“Rose,” he said carefully, “he was leaving behind the woman he loved. Forever. Do you think he could have stood it, taking the time to say goodbye?”

One tear slipped down her cheek and she furiously brushed it away. “You burned up a sun,” she whispered.

He felt another pang, and then yet _another_ one—this time hopeful—when he realized she’d said “you” and not “him.”

“That was different,” he said, matching her quiet tone. “There was no temptation then, no way to have you back in the TARDIS. Back there, I…”

He couldn’t go on. He settled for holding out his hand again, giving her an encouraging smile.

She blinked at his hand and then, with a small nod, let their fingers entwined together. “S’good hand,” she said, squeezing his fingers. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, winking. He pulled her to her feet, suddenly unable to wipe the grin off his face. “I can’t do this without you, you know. Well, I _could_ , me being… well, me. But honestly, Rose, 21st century London? We’ll have to travel by _car_. Or Zeppelin, I suppose. Two centuries later and we’d have teleport pods. It’s certainly not TARDIS-travel, going by teleport, but you can cross the entire planet in the span of a few seconds,” he paused for breath, vaguely aware that Rose was looking at him with a funny expression on her face, but it suddenly seemed important that he keep talking. “We will go traveling, won’t we? There are still places I haven’t seen. I bet Australia would be brilliant. Or India! I always do seem to end up in London, for some reason.”

“I guess…” Rose began.

“Great! Brilliant!” the Doctor said, beaming at her. She hesitantly smiled back. “Your mum’s settled in for the night, by the way. Did I tell you she hit me? She gave us the room next door. It’s not the best I’ve ever stayed in, but it’ll do. I checked under the bed, and it has _not_ been invaded by space beetles. Always check for space beetles, Rose. What?”

Rose’s expression had gone from confused to downright worried. “Is it hard for you?” she said, like she was just hitting on something important. “Without the TARDIS, I mean.” She swallowed, looking near tears again. “God, you’re just… stuck here. Trapped. How _could_ he…”

“Rose—” this time her name sounded desperate. He grabbed both her hands, tugging her close to him. “I’ll be all right.”

She searched his eyes, biting down on her bottom lip. “You’ll go mad.”

“No, I won’t. I’ve been trapped on Earth before.”

“Not forever.”

“ _Rose_.” He released her hands and took a step back, dragging one hand through his hair. He shot one disgusted look at the ocean—what had ever possessed him to drop them both off _here_ , of all places?—before shoving both hands in his pockets and facing her again. “I’ll be fine. I’ll adjust.”

Rose rubbed her hands together, suddenly looking cold and tired. He’d give her his coat, if he still had it. He frowned – he’d _really_ liked that coat.

“Come on,” he said instead, reaching for her hand again. Her fingers closed around his. “Come back inside.”

He tugged on her hand, but she didn’t move. “Rose,” he urged, beginning to feel chilled himself, but Rose didn’t move.

“Doctor,” she said very softly. And then, “Oh, my god, _Doctor_.” Without uttering anything else, she leaned into him, arms coming up to circle his neck. She let out a soft sigh, breath whistling against the open collar of his throat. His arms automatically came up to embrace her.

The cold, the rest of the beach seemed to fade away. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d done this. He wondered if she’d hugged the other Doctor. She probably had. Of course, she’d kissed _him_.

She stirred, and then pressed one hand to his chest. Her forehead crinkled. “Is it weird? Only having one heart?”

“A little bit,” he said. “I’ve only got one chance now. That’s it.”

She raised her eyes to meet his. “And that…” she said slowly, “that changes things?”

He licked his lips, suddenly finding it much harder to talk. He nodded.

She was so _close_ and she smelled the same and different than he remembered – like shampoo and vanilla perfume and sweat. His eyes were drawn to her lips, slightly blue from the cold and it made him very much want to kiss her again.

She blushed under his stare. “We should get back.”

“We should. You’ll catch cold if you stay out here. _I_ could catch cold.” He paused, frowning. “That’s never happened to me before. Ooh, that’s something, isn’t it? I’m half-human now. I’ll need a job and everything. That’s how you lot make money, isn’t it? And we’ll need money if we want to buy anything useful like a house or a car or parts for our own teleport pods. And we’ll have to build defences around the house, obviously, in case of an alien invasion in the middle of the night and—”

“Doctor,” Rose said abruptly, cutting him off. He stopped and blinked at her, and she took a breath before leaning in to kiss him. Rose really _was_ brilliant. (How had he done that? What had he _said_? He should really remember this for next time.)

Rose pulled away, smiling shyly and biting down on her bottom lip. “Is that…?” she began.

“Brilliant,” he said, hoping this might mean she’d kiss him again.

Rose only grinned happily and tugged on his hand, pulling him back towards the hotel. He followed her silently. Did this mean she accepted him? When was she going to kiss him again? Could he kiss her now? What _was_ he going to do for a job? How was his other self getting on? _Donna_ …

There was a heavy feeling pressing on his chest when they reached their hotel room. It sunk in little bits at a time—how much his life had changed in the span of a few minutes. There was no TARDIS, no traveling time and space and saving planets, just life as it came, one day at a time.

Rose let go of his hand and she went to fiddle with the bedcovers, idly plumping the pillows and then smoothing back the comforter. She didn’t say anything.

He looked around. Ah—one bed. She was nervous, then.

He shrugged off his jacket, tossing it idly over the nearest chair before looking at her. His hand felt empty without hers in it. He’d only had her back a few hours, and yet the urge to touch her, to reassure himself that she was still there felt overwhelming. He didn’t know if those were his new human instincts or simply a product of being without her so long. Maybe a bit of both.

“Can I…?” he began and Rose’s face grew more troubled and worried. Oh. _Oh_. “I just want to hold you,” he said in a rush. “If that’s all right.”

Her cheeks coloured and then she nodded. She took a deep breath and then undid her jacket, tossing it next to his. It landed on the chair with a soft _thunk_.

They stared at each other. “So I’ll just…” Rose began. She moved towards the bed, kicking off her shoes before pulling the covers back. She turned to look at him with a warm smile, “You coming?”

Her smile seemed to ease the tension in the room. “Yeah,” he said. “Course.” He also pulled off his shoes and followed her.

Rose slid into bed and then leaned against the headboard, watching him quietly. He got in next to her, eyes darting around the room before settling back on her. She was still watching him.

“What is it?”

Rose looked a little sheepish. “It’s just… it’s silly.” He raised his eyebrows and she sighed, “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?” he said absently, fighting back a yawn. He was suddenly _knackered_. How odd. Sleep—that was another thing he’d have to get used to.

“Back there, on the beach, when you said… when you said that you…”

“When I told you that I love you,” the Doctor finished, the words still feeling strange in his mouth.

Rose nodded. “You meant it, yeah? It wasn’t just so I’d stay behind?”

He stared at her, momentarily too stunned to say anything. How could she think…? Then Jackie’s words came back to him. _You left her on a beach_ , she’d said. _You chucked her out like she meant nothing._ It couldn’t be further from the truth, but how was Rose supposed to know that unless he told her?

“Rose,” he said, keeping his voice measured and steady, “I absolutely meant it.”

“Oh,” Rose whispered. Then she smiled. “Thought so.”

Her smile sent a pleasant jolt through his stomach. Without thinking about it, he leaned in and kissed her. She eagerly kissed him back, arms winding around his neck and body leaning instinctively into his.

Eventually he remembered what he’d said earlier—he just wanted to hold her, he said, which had sounded like a wise plan at the time. Things were so new, in so many ways. But it was remarkably easy to kiss her and harder to remember _why_ he should stop.

“Rose,” he finally managed, pressing one more kiss to the corner of her mouth before pulling away. “We should get some rest.”

Rose looked slightly dazed, but then she snapped to attention. “Yeah, we’ve got that early car ride tomorrow morning,” she said, but she sounded disappointed.

He decided not to dwell on that. Rose reached over to flick off the bedside lamp, bathing the room in darkness. His eyes adjusted in seconds. The bed shifted as Rose settled down against the pillows, stretching out on her side so she could look at him.

“Doctor?”

“Yeah?”

She sounded sheepish. “I just… I can’t believe you’re really here.”

They smiled at each other.

“Tell me something—anything,” Rose said. “What have you been up to these last few years? How’d you meet Donna? And Jack! How come he didn’t die back there on the Crucible?”

Now there was a list of things he didn’t want to talk about. “Not much to tell. Same old life in the TARDIS.”

She nodded, but her face fell. He felt guilty for avoiding the questions, but he wasn’t quite ready to be reminded of everything he’d lost. He just… he needed to think about the future—about being here, with Rose, for the rest of their lives. He could do that.

“You’re still working for Torchwood?” he said.

“Yeah,” Rose said, “Helps, having Dad there. He didn’t even blink when I started talking about the dimensional cannon…” she trailed off. “You’ll fit right in, if you want.”

The words were out before he could stop them. “Rose, I’m not working for Torchwood.”

“Oh,” Rose said, looking hurt again.

This wasn’t going right at all.

“Come on,” he said. He lifted one arm and gestured her closer. She sighed in resignation and then slid against him, nose practically bumping his. “Hello,” she whispered.

“Hi.” His arm wound around her back, holding her close. If he closed his eyes, he could just make out each of their heartbeats.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Rose whispered, voice hot against his neck.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Rose said, “you’re not such a bad pillow, all things considered.”

He grinned and couldn’t stop himself from tickling her side. She laughed and it was one of the best sounds in the universe.

[Chapter Two](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/24873.html#cutid1)


	2. Chapter 2

**Title** : Plotting a New Course (2/4)  
 **Disclaimer** : I don’t own Doctor Who.  
 **Pairing/Characters** : Ten II/Rose, Jackie, Tyler clan  
 **Summary** : The Doctor and Rose, post-Journey’s End. _There it was, then. The Doctor hadn’t even been in this world a whole day and all ready Jackie had lost the attention of her eldest child. Typical._   
**Rating** : PG13  
 **Spoilers** : Through 4x13.  
 **Word Count** : 3, 455  
 **A/N** : Big thanks to for the beta read.

([Chapter One](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/24749.html))

****

Jackie had to concede that the Doctor had a point. Car travel _was_ slow. And bumpy.

Pete had offered to send them a jet, but he couldn’t procure one quickly on such short notice and, anyway, it didn’t look so good nowadays, flying around in jets when there was Global Warming to consider. 

Mostly, though, Jackie felt eager to get home and waiting for a jet to arrive was out of the question. She wanted to scoop her son up in a hug and kiss her husband again. She wasn’t built for Rose’s life. She’d watched a woman turn to dust in front of her—and all she could do was think ‘ _thank god, it wasn’t me, I have a son, and he needs me._ ’ Never mind that the woman had a family of her own, that she could have been a mother, just like Jackie. 

Their driver had yellow teeth and a wide hat. He’d spent the first hour of the trip humming under his breath until Jackie snapped and told him to turn on the bloody radio. Now they were subjected to a steady drone of politicians trying to take credit for bringing the stars back.

“That was _my_ daughter, you idiot,” she said to the radio as Georgia Smith, MP from West Ham claimed it was Labour’s new emissions plan that ended the Darkness. Jackie glanced behind her. The Doctor looked amused from where he had an arm draped over her daughter’s shoulders. For her part, Rose looked comfortably spooned into his chest, her fingers linked with his. They’d been doing that all trip—practically hanging off each other.

It didn’t look like _they’d_ had any trouble sleeping. The pair of them were probably used to death and destruction by now. She couldn’t even blame the Doctor for it, not really. It wasn’t like Rose had been willing to sit at home and stay out of trouble these last few years. 

“The Doctor helped,” Rose said. She titled her head back to stare adoringly into the Doctor’s eyes. “Just a bit.”

He stared adoringly back. “And Donna,” he said, after a pause. “All Donna, really.”

They smiled sadly at each other, and then returned to the stupid staring. There it was, then. The Doctor hadn’t even been in this world a whole day and all ready Jackie had lost the attention of her eldest child. Typical. 

Jackie eyed him critically—he had the same untameable hair, same sideburns, same crinkles in his eyes when he smiled. He was still too skinny. She made a mental note—that man needed more meat and potatoes. And extra pudding. 

_He’s too dangerous to be left on his own_ , the Doctor had said. And Jackie had looked at this blue suited version of him – the man who looked like the Doctor and called himself the Doctor, but could be the closest thing to Frankenstein, for all Jackie knew. He could be the product of some freak alien accident, an evil clone gone wrong—and left with her daughter.

But even Jackie had to admit that the Doctor always did what he could to keep Rose safe, and she couldn’t quite believe that he’d leave her with someone he thought was truly dangerous. No, that wasn’t the man Jackie knew, and certainly not the man who cared for her daughter. When it came down to it, the Doctor made a choice, and Jackie wanted to hug him for it. She wanted to slap him for it, too, for up and leaving Rose like that. But he’d left Rose with her family, and Jackie would always be thankful for that.

She chanced another glance in the backseat. 

Now they were kissing. Rose had one hand behind his head, and his fingers brushed her cheek, thumb rubbing against her temple. Jackie opened her mouth—“Oi, you two,” hovering on the tip of her tongue—and then couldn’t quite bring herself to ruin the moment. Instead she watched silently, aching and joyful for Rose in the same heartbeat. 

Her thoughts strayed to Pete—better because he was alive, worse because he wasn’t hers—and how he still began sentences with “Do you remember when we…?” before stopping with a pained look in his eyes when he remembered his Jackie—his real wife—was dead. 

She hoped Rose never made this Doctor feel like that. _And I’m him_ , the Doctor had said, but that wasn’t quite true, was it? That Doctor turned around and left Jackie’s daughter on a beach, and this Doctor took her hand and stayed. He _stayed_.

The same. But not. Like her and Pete—but at least this Doctor had all the same memories of his time with Rose. That was the one thing she could never give Pete even if she resembled the Jackie he’d lost. She and Pete were happy, though, even with all the changes and the years between them. That was the important thing. 

They stopped kissing, but didn’t break apart. Rose shifted forward, curling into him. His head came down to press against her cheek. He whispered something in her ear; Rose smiled and turned her head to kiss his cheek before settling against him. Rose sighed softly, contentedly, and then shut her eyes, soft smile on her face.

Jackie swallowed and fastened her eyes back on the road. She couldn’t quite bring herself to ruin this moment for them, this quiet reunion they were finally allowing themselves to have.

She turned her attention back to the radio, twisting the knob while static blared out of the speakers. The driver sent her a dirty look, but she didn’t give two twats about what he thought—anything was better than listening to another word about the Darkness. 

*****

“Can you _believe_ that?” Jackie asked as their car pulled away from the curve. “The _nerve_ of that man, taking advantage of our situation—"

“He did drive us all the way to London, Mum,” Rose said, leaning into the Doctor and using his arm to hide her yawn. The Doctor had one arm around her waist and they both shuffled forward, looking exhausted. 

“Jackie, you are rich,” the Doctor pointed out. 

“Oh, don’t say that,” Rose said, patting the Doctor on the arm. He mouthed ‘what?’ at her. “She spent a long time on the Powell Estates. We both did. You’re sort of… trained to think everyone’s trying to take advantage of you.”

“But…”

“Are you two coming or not?” Jackie said, beginning to plod her way down the driveway. The Doctor and Rose followed behind her. 

Up ahead, the door to their house swung open and Pete stepped out, hand coming up to shield his eyes from the setting sun. She couldn’t help but break out into a grin when she saw him. 

He ran down the steps as she started up the driveway. They met each other halfway. Jackie practically jumped into his arms and Pete stumbled backwards a few feet, letting out an “oomf” of surprise before he took her face between both his hands and gave her a stern look.

“I told you not to go, Jacks. You didn’t even leave a note, I had to find out from the maid. I’ve been half out of my mind with worry, haven’t slept in days—”

“Missed me, then, did you?” Jackie said.

“You’ve always been stubborn,” Pete admitted and then leaned in to kiss her.

They were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. It was the Doctor. Rose smiled wistfully, like the sight of her parents together was still a novelty.

“Yes, hello!” said the Doctor, giving a little wave. “We’re still here. Nice place. I don’t remember the gardens. Were they here last time?”

“Yup,” said Rose.

“Ah,” said the Doctor after a pause. “Was just a touch distracted at the time. Cybermen and all that. Anyway, lead on! Pete, Pete Tyler, nice to see you. How’ve you been?”

“Doctor,” said Pete, as they walked the rest of the way to the house. “Have to admit I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Yeah, it’s a… long story,” the Doctor said. 

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad.” They reached the door and Pete held it open, ushering them all inside. He gave a sad smile as it shut behind them. “I wasn’t expecting to ever see Rose again, truth be told.”

Rose abruptly let go of the Doctor’s hand, beginning to look uncomfortable. “Yeah, the thing is…”

“It all worked out for the best,” Jackie said, sensing that the _last_ thing the Doctor and Rose wanted was to get into the particulars of their new relationship. 

Rose nodded “It’s good to be home. I’m just gonna…” she gestured in front of her, “I’m going to… go.”

“Go?” said the Doctor, looking like he was trying to keep from sounding terrified and not doing a very good job. 

“Shower,” Rose said, “just… the shower.”

“Oh,” said the Doctor. “Right.”

They gazed at each other and then Rose hurried away, the Doctor staring longingly after her. He looked so forlorn that Jackie almost leaned over to pat him on the shoulder and tell him Rose would come back very soon if he just counted backwards from one-hundred and maybe did some finger-painting. 

“Okay, what did I miss?” said Pete.

“The Doctor’s human now,” Jackie said.

“ _Half_ -human,” said the Doctor. “I'm still half-Time Lord.”

“ _And_ there’s two of them,” Jackie finished. “The other one is gone.”

Pete blinked, but only said, “Right.”

Jackie turned to the Doctor. “Rose isn’t the only one who should shower.” She eyed him critically. The blue suit was beginning to look more than a little rumpled on him. They were going to have to buy him some replacement clothing. And quickly. _Suppose he’ll want all suits, too_ , Jackie thought with a frown. 

“There’s a guest-bath just down the hall,” Pete said. “And Rose’s bedroom is on the third floor, very last door on the left.”

The Doctor nodded and then, as if realizing what he was doing, whipped his head around to stare at Jackie in panic. 

“Oh, honestly,” Jackie said, “you’re both adults. God only knows what the pair of you were getting up to in that box of yours all those years.” 

“Actually—” the Doctor began, but he stopped and shook his head, seeming to think better of following that line of thought. He glanced at the stairs with a troubled expression. “She never moved out? Four, five years and she’s been here, all this time? That doesn’t sound like Rose.”

“And you’d know, would you?” Jackie said. The Doctor blinked at her in confusion and she couldn’t stop herself from continuing, “It’s been years since she last saw you. You’re the one with the great big spaceship. Why did Rose have to be the one finding her way back?”

The Doctor opened his mouth, but nothing came out and he stood there, hands shoved into his pockets, looking downright miserable.

“Jacks,” Pete said quietly. And then, “She didn’t want to move out. I suppose she thought that would be too permanent, that she’d lost you for good.”

“I know the feeling,” the Doctor said. He drew in a breath and visibly pulled himself together, even forcing a smile. “It’s been ages since I’ve stayed in a real house. It’s not half-bad, I suppose. D’you have an attic?”

“Yes,” Pete said. “Why?”

“I like a good attic,” the Doctor said. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than them, but he disappeared down the hall towards the guest-bath. 

“I better check on Tony," Jackie said after he was gone. "I don’t know what I was thinking leaving the pair of you alone.” 

Pete watched her with a fond half-smile. “It’s good to have you home, Jackie. It’s been… a difficult few days.”

Jackie thought about Daleks on London streets, reality bombs, and warp stars set to destroy all their lives in the hopes it might save the universe. She shivered. “It’s over now.” 

There was a crash from down the hall and then the Doctor popped his head out. “Found the towels!” he yelled. “Although… you might want to replace the brown vase. Hope it wasn’t a family heirloom.”

“The brown vase?” Pete said worriedly. “The one that belonged to my mother?”

“I reckon I can piece it back together in no time,” called the Doctor. “It just needs setting 19E on the sonic screwdriver. And maybe some glue.”

“No, that’s fine,” Pete said. “You just… stand there. And don’t touch anything.”

Never before had Jackie been so glad for the Doctor’s ability to distract and annoy people. 

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full,” she said, making an effort to sound sympathetic. She patted Pete on the shoulder. “I’m going to go check on Tony. You’ll make me a cup of tea, won’t you? That’s a dear.”

********

Rose didn’t cry until she was in the shower, the pounding of the water masking her sobs. She was just… having a… a delayed reaction, she told herself, leaning one shoulder against the tile to catch her breath. That’s all. It’d been a long few days—Daleks and being back in the TARDIS and the Doctor leaving and—

She sucked in a loud gasp of air, leaning more heavily against the wall. This—it felt so _wrong_. She wasn’t supposed to be here. All that time, building the dimensional cannon, fighting her way back to the Doctor—she always figured it would end with them both back in the TARDIS.

Thing was, this Doctor was so undeniably _him_. And it was so easy to fall back into their old rhythm, like nothing had changed. If only she could forget there was another version of the Doctor out there. One who hadn’t just turned his back and… and…

She pressed her palm to her eyes to keep the tears at bay. The Doctor had said—he couldn’t say goodbye, it would have hurt too much. She was just going to have to be content that they’d been allowed one last hug, one last chance to see each other again. Besides, that Doctor had Donna with him. This one didn’t have anyone. He didn’t even have the TARDIS—just her. 

Finally, throat dry, limbs shaking, she shut off the water. She pulled on a pair of pyjama pants and a t-shirt and swept her hair back into a ponytail before going to look for him. 

She found the Doctor in her bedroom. Surprised, she froze in the doorway, watching him. He was rifling through her things, hair still damp from what must have been his own shower. He picked up the photos lining her dresser—Mum, Dad, Mickey, Tony, Jake—thumb brushing across the corners before he set them back down. Then he moved to her bookshelf and picked up the top book— _Introduction to Physics_ —smiled, and then moved on. On her desk, he found a stack of memos from Torchwood, yellow sticky notes dotting the papers. He slipped his hand in his pocket, searching for something, before removing it empty-handed. Frowning, he leaned forward, squinting at the pages. He made a “hmm” noise and then nodded to himself.

_Oh_ , Rose realized. His glasses. Of course. They’d have to get him a new pair. 

Rose cleared her throat. The Doctor jumped and spun around, a Torchwood memo still clutched in his hand.

She said the first thing that popped into her mind. “We’ll have to go shopping.” She almost added that the blue suit looked plain weird on him, not at all like she remembered. Not _bad_ , exactly, just… not him. 

The Doctor looked blank and then perked up. “Right, no glasses,” he said. “Well… not much of anything, I suppose. I did stash a few things in my pockets. Including…” He dug around in his pocket again and pulled out a familiar blue object, twirling it around in his hand before saying, “Our very own sonic screwdriver. Can’t make teleport pods without them, you know.”

He grinned proudly at her and she felt her stomach flutter. 

“You never said—” He pointed to the memos on her desk, breaking the moment. “How long have you been working on the dimensional cannon?”

Rose shrugged. “Sort of what kept me sane at first—I reckon Dad was just happy I was doing something other than crying my eyes out. Never got much support for it, though. Not until the Darkness started.”

The Doctor nodded. “You have your own team? Department?”

“Um…” Rose played with her earrings, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “Not exactly.” The Doctor stared at her and she blew out a breath. “I tried to work my way up the ranks at first, yeah? Didn’t want to be given special treatment for being Pete Tyler’s daughter, but… the thing is, apparently I don’t take orders very well.”

She tried very hard not to look at him, but she could hear the amusement in his voice, “What? You?”

“I almost got sacked on my first day. One of our superior officers told me that the cannon was out of the question.” Rose shrugged. “So I dumped my lunch tray on his head.”

The Doctor sniggered. “Of course you did.”

Rose took a breath, feeling more confident now. “So Dad put me in charge of my own department—Unknown Alien Lifeforms and Artifacts. I kept working on the cannon, though—just did the other stuff as well. Getting funding was tough, but… things are getting better. After the stars started going out, I got my own office and everything.” 

She chanced a glance at him. His smile was soft and full of pride. She felt her stomach do that fluttering thing again. 

“Sounds dangerous,” he said, after a pause. 

“Can be, yeah.”

He frowned, looking caught between wanting to probe her for more information and lecturing her on being careful. She considered reminding him that ‘Unknown Lifeforms’ was practically his area of expertise and, anyway, it was all because of Torchwood that she got back to him in the first place. But she didn’t think he was quite ready to listen to that yet. 

Instead, she closed the distance between them and reached for the Torchwood memo he was still holding. She placed it back on the desk and then tilted her head up to meet his eyes. 

“You’ll stay here tonight? With me?”

He gave a nervous swallow and then a bob of his head. 

“Good,” she said, “that’s… good.” Then she leaned in to kiss him. He kissed her back tentatively, arms sliding around her waist before he pulled back.

Eyes closed, breathing hard, he said, “Rose, we should talk.”

“You? Want to ‘talk?’ This really is a parallel world.”

He gave a strained smile. “Must be the Donna in me.”

“Must be,” Rose agreed. She kissed the corner of his mouth. “We’ve got our whole lives to talk.”

She sensed his body relaxing, leaning into hers. His mouth found hers again and his hands smoothed down her back. Rose reached for the buttons on his jacket, but he pulled back again, looking jumpy. She began to regret throwing on an old Manchester United t-shirt that once belonged to Mickey. Maybe it wasn’t the _best_ thing to wear for seducing half-human aliens.

“Rose.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with nerves. She thought it was rather cute. “Is it a good idea to rush into this? Things are so new—”

“Not that new,” Rose said.

“ _I’m_ new,” he said and it was like being dumped with cold water. Right. She couldn’t exactly forget that if he was going to keep reminding her of it. “I mean,” he said, catching the look on her face. “This should take some getting used to. It shouldn’t be easy.”

“Why not?” Rose said. “We haven’t seen each other in years, and it’s been two mad days of fighting Daleks and barely surviving and ending up stranded without the TARDIS. Seems like a good time to me.”

“I just…” he began, “I don’t want you thinking that I… that I’m not…”

“I love you,” she said, putting as much feeling into the words as she could muster.

His eyes lit up, the expression making him look more relaxed, younger. “Yeah?” 

Rose rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I jumped across parallel worlds looking for you because I was hoping for a quick shag.”

The Doctor grinned and kissed her, still smiling against her mouth. She leaned into him, arms winding around his neck. 

"So," she said, "we'll talk later, then?"

He pressed his forehead against hers, managed to mumble "Later sounds good" before kissing her again. 

[Chapter Three](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/25556.html)


	3. DW Fic: Plotting a New Course (3/4) Ten II/Rose

**Title** : Plotting a New Course (3/4)  
 **Disclaimer** : I don’t own Doctor Who.  
 **Pairing/Characters** : Ten II/Rose, Jackie, Tyler clan  
 **Summary** : The Doctor and Rose actually talk about stuff. And the Doctor contemplates parallel universe food. As you would do, too.  
 **Rating** : PG13  
 **Spoilers** : Through Journey’s End  
 **Word Count** : 3, 100  
 **A/N** : Big thanks to [](http://mrv3000.livejournal.com/profile)[**mrv3000**](http://mrv3000.livejournal.com/) for the beta read.

([Chapter One](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/24749.html)) ([Chapter Two](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/24873.html))

*****

London was a rubbish place from which to look at the stars.

The Doctor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning heavily on the window frame. Behind him, Rose was sound asleep, curled up in bed.

Even as a half-human, he didn’t need as much sleep as she did. At least, that’s what he told himself. He wasn’t going to think about how as brilliant as it was, sex had made him feel like… like maybe she had wanted someone else instead.

He stood up straighter. No, he definitely was _not_ thinking about that. Rose would never use him. Never. At least, not him _him_. She _had_ been awfully unfair to Mickey…

His eyes were drawn back to the sky again. He couldn’t help wondering how his other self was doing. Donna would be gone by now. Had to be. There was only one way to save her, and he knew his other self would never allow for the alternative. But the other Doctor still had the TARDIS. A painfully empty TARDIS, but it was the TARDIS all the same.

And he— _he_ was trapped on Earth, staring up at the stars through a filter of light pollution, millions of light years from what had once been within his grasp.

He closed his eyes, feeling his body slump against the window frame. What a mess this was for both of them.

A vivid image of Donna filled his mind, her eyes narrowed like she thought he was being particularly daft. _‘You are kidding, aren’t you?’_ said the image, voice loud and clear in his head. _‘Right now, the other you is sitting in an empty TARDIS and you’re feeling sorry for yourself ‘cos the woman you love might be thinking about… you?’_

“That’s not the point,” he mumbled aloud. Great. He was speaking to what amounted to a ghost. A ghost that owned a fair bit of his brain, but _still_.

_‘She’ll come around. She loves you. Don’t know why, but there you go.’_

“Yeah,” he said, with a hint of a smile. He opened his eyes, Donna’s image fading from his mind. He felt a mournful ache. That Donna was gone.

His breath had left a cloud of fog on the window and he raised his hand to the glass, pressing his thumb against the window before pulling it away. There were things he should be doing. Building defences around the house, for one. He might be half-human, but he’d still be target for any above-average alien lifeform that showed up, and the last thing he wanted was to put the Tylers in _more_ danger. But he couldn’t quite bring himself to move.

“Doctor?”

He jerked in surprise and turned around. Rose was sitting up in bed, sheet pulled tightly around her. She blinked at him. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” he said quickly.

“Oh,” she said. “How long have you been standing there for?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe an hour.”

There was a heavy silence and Rose shifted around, rustling the sheets. Finally, she looked back at him. “Did we… was it too soon?”

He blinked. “Was what too soon?”

She stared at him like he was completely thick. _Oh._ Right.

“No!” he said quickly. “No, it’s not that. That was…”

“Yeah?”

“Really rather brilliant.”

Rose smiled at that, some of the fear in her eyes going away. They were _both_ feeling insecure, then.

_‘Duh,_ ’ said the Donna in his head again. ‘ _Now go over to her, dumbo_.’

He did. He sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed and then reached for her hand. Their fingers entwined together and Rose frowned thoughtfully. “It’s the TARDIS, isn’t it?” she said. “You miss her.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.” She squeezed his hand. “Can I help?”

“I’m fine,” he said, eager to change the subject. “What about you? Everything all right?”

“Yeah,” she said absently. Then she shook herself and looked at him. “I mean, no. Of course it isn’t. But maybe… it could be, yeah?”

He smoothed his thumb over the back of her hand. “It will be. I promise.”

Rose nodded, but then she pulled her hand away. She shifted, her legs curling up under her, and she leaned back against the headboard. “I’ve been thinking.”

He felt a pang, still missing her hand in his. “About what?”

“Us.” She gave a shaky laugh. “You and me.”

She was staring ahead of her, funny expression on her face like she was barely seeing him. “And?” he said hesitantly.

“If we’re gonnna… if this is going to work, you can’t make decisions for me anymore.”

“When have I ever…?” he began, but Rose silenced him with a glare. Okay, her turn to talk. Fair enough.

“Thing is, Doctor, if you’d just _asked_ me what I wanted instead of bringing me back to Bad Wolf Bay and leaving…” Her voice caught and she pressed her lips together before continuing, “Well, I might have chosen you anyway. But we’ll never know now, will we? And we’ve got to live with that for the rest of our lives.”

“Rose…”

“I don’t care what’s happening or what sort of danger we’re facing,” she said, “it’s my decision to make.”

“You can’t ask me to do that.”

She looked away from him. “But I’ve got to. If you want us…” she faltered, swallowed, and then said, “if we’re gonna spend the rest of our lives together, it’s the only way I can see this working.”

He stared at her. Was that an ultimatum? It _sounded_ like an ultimatum. She was more direct with him than she used to be. Oh, he knew she’d changed in the years they’d been separated, but he was only beginning to grasp just how _much_. It had been so easy for him to imagine that she was getting on with her life, that she was happy. But maybe Jackie had a point—maybe he didn’t know her half as well as he thought he did.

He’d find out, though. That was the important thing.

“Doctor?” Rose pressed.

He thought about it. _Could_ he really stand back if she was in danger? Or stop himself from doing _anything_ if that meant keeping her safe? He didn’t know.

He took a breath. “I’ll try.”

She looked at him again, studying him quietly like she was trying to figure out how serious he was being. Finally, she nodded to herself. “All right.”

He could tell there was still something bothering her. “Anything else?”

She hesitated.

“Rose?”

“Just…” she looked down at her hands, hair falling into her face, “just promise me something?”

“What?”

“Tell me goodbye.” She swallowed. “If you decide to leave one day, promise me you’ll say goodbye.”

“I’m not going to leave—”

“But you don’t _know_ that,” she insisted, shaking her head. “I just… I need to know you’ll be different from him. Just that. That’s all. Just say goodbye.”

“Of course I will, yeah,” he managed with difficulty. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Rose said. She nodded to herself, folding her arms close to her chest. “That’s good.”

Neither of them knew what else to say. The Doctor scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward and out of place, perched half-naked on the edge of Rose’s bed. If he was in the TARDIS, he’d make an excuse about fiddling with the console and leave, but this wasn’t the TARDIS—it wasn’t even his home. And there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

He felt Rose’s hand on his arm and he glanced up, surprised. “Talk to me,” she said quietly. “Please?”

He bowed his head. “I can’t even describe what it’s like, not feeling the TARDIS—up here, in my head.” He tapped his finger against his temple. “It wasn’t too bad at first, but the walls between worlds are closing, and every moment she grows fainter.” He paused. “I’m completely alone. I haven’t felt like this since…”

“The Time War,” Rose finished, understanding. “Oh, Doctor. Come here—”

She lay down and lifted the sheet so he could climb in next to her again. Then she pulled up the covers and put her arms around him, cradling his face against her neck. He breathed her in and slowly felt himself begin to relax.

“You’re not alone,” she said fiercely. “And you’re never going to be alone again, yeah? Not like you were when you were a Time Lord.”

He nodded against her neck and squeezed his eyes shut. It was much better like this, feeling her around him and not thinking about his other self in the other universe, about a Donna that no longer resembled the voice in his head.

He wanted to tell her that he’d be fine, that he’d adjust, but he couldn’t quite find it in him. Half-Time Lord or not, he was suddenly exhausted.

******

He slept in the next morning.

He allowed himself a few minutes to marvel at this luxury—he’d never actually slept in before. As a Time Lord, sleep had been rare, grabbed in fits and bursts, meant simply to recharge his cells, but it had never been a necessity. In fact, he had barely been sleeping at all these last few years—his mind had been too restless to ever shut down enough for real rest.

Blimey, no wonder he’d been exhausted. He lay still for a few moments, enjoying the quiet. The morning sun streamed in through the window, bathing the room in soft yellow light. It dulled some of the emptiness in his head.

Finally, he pushed himself to his feet and picked up the pieces of his suit from the floor. Even he had to admit that the suit was beginning to look rumpled.

He found Rose sitting at the dining room table, drinking a cup of tea and flicking through the morning paper. She set it down when he came into the room, smiling at him in a slow and contented way that made his heart pound faster. He had a sudden memory of her on an abandoned London street, partially hidden behind a huge gun, grinning at him from across the distance.

He smiled back at her. “Morning,” he said.

“Morning,” she replied, still grinning.

He didn’t hear Jackie come up behind him until it was too late. “There you are!”

“GAH!” yelped the Doctor, jumping.

Jackie ignored him. “Almost thought you’d sleep all day,” she said, all business-like. She pushed him into the nearest chair. “Lord knows what you and Rose got up to last night—”

“ _Mum_!”

Jackie ignored Rose, and turned to holler over her shoulder, “Maria!”

The Doctor cricked his neck around. “Maria?”

“The maid,” Rose explained.

“The _maid_?”

“Tell me about it,” Jackie said. “It’s mad, is what it is. Me! Having a maid!” The Doctor stared at her—Jackie didn’t seem all that upset by the prospect. In fact, she seemed quite smug. “I looked after myself fine for decades—MARIA, THOSE EGGS ARE COLD BY NOW!”

The Doctor scrunched down in his seat in hopes he could disappear under the table. No such luck.

“Oh, good, there she is,” said Jackie as Maria bustled into the room. She ushered the maid over and Maria promptly began spooning food onto his plate while Jackie stood back and made affirmative noises. “More eggs. Another piece of sausage. There we go. That’ll do nicely. EAT UP!”

She rather forcefully patted him on the shoulder and then bustled away, yelling, “TONY PETER TYLER, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE OUT THE DOOR TEN MINUTES AGO!”

Maria hurried after her and the Doctor winced at the yells. A quick glance at Rose told him she was completely unperturbed. She was probably used to this sort of thing from Jackie by now. Of course, given enough time, _he_ might become used to it as well.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and then looked down at the food Jackie had piled in front of him. He studied it with renewed interest. Parallel universe food. It couldn’t be that different from the other universe. Could it?

He reached for the sonic screwdriver and then paused, noticing that Rose was grinning from behind the newspaper. “What?”

“Nothing.” She shrugged. “I’m just glad you and my mum are getting along.”

He gaped at her in horror. Oblivious to the expression on his face, Rose continued to read whatever article had her so entranced. Well, thinking about getting chummy with Jackie completely put him off wanting to do any science experiments. He looked at the food in resignation. He _was_ pretty hungry and it couldn’t be too bad if Jackie wasn’t in charge of the cooking.

After chewing in silence for a few minutes, he glanced at Rose again. She was still reading the paper. He frowned. Then, trying to be as quiet as possible, he scraped his chair along the floor towards her.

Her lips twitched from behind the newspaper.

Finally, reaching her side, he leaned over to get a good look at what she was reading. _POLLS SOARING IN WAKE OF STARS RETURN, PRESIDENT CONSIDERS ELECTION RUN: “TORCHWOOD HELPED.”_

“It’s rubbish,” Rose said. “The President didn’t do anything except hide in a bunker.”

The Doctor snorted derisively. “Must not be Harriet Jones, then. She would never run and hide.”

Rose set the paper down on the table with a heavy sigh. "She was voted out of office a few months after I got here. People said she was too involved in what was going on up above. Some even blamed her when the Darkness started. Said it was her fault."

The Doctor felt a jolt of empathy for Harriet Jones, Former Prime Minister. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She turned to face him. She was very close now—he could see leftover toast crumbs on the corner of her mouth. “That makes a change.”

“I wiped out the Daleks with a flick of a button back there on the Crucible. I don’t have much right to judge now, do I?”

“That _really_ makes a change, then,” Rose said.

She stared at him uncertainly, and he hurriedly changed the subject. “I don’t believe I’ve said a proper good morning yet,” he said and then leaned in to kiss her. She smiled and one of her hands settled on his shoulder. He flicked his tongue against the corner of her mouth, tasting jam and coffee.

He pulled away. “So! Now that the Darkness is taken care of, what’s our next step, head of Unknown Alien Lifeforms?”

Rose blinked. “Hold on. _Our_ next step? I thought you said you didn’t want to work for Torchwood.”

He waved that away. “I’m not talking about working for Torchwood. I’d be working with _you_.”

“So you’d be working for _Torchwood_ ,” she said slowly, like he was daft. She slid her chair back and stood up, grabbing her coffee mug.

He rose to his feet and followed her. “I’m not asking to be on the payroll,” he said, “but you and I both know I’m the best resource you have.” He didn’t have to see her to know she was rolling her eyes. “ _And_ I’m still part-Time Lord. That’s bound to attract attention from the rest of the galaxy.”

They entered the kitchen. Rose set her mug down next to the sink and then turned around, arms folded across her chest. “And that’s… bad?”

“Could be.” Rose stared at him blankly so he elaborated, “I’m dangerous.”

“Rubbish,” she said, brushing by him. She opened the fridge door and stared into it. “I know what the other Doctor said, and I don’t believe it for one minute. You are _not_ dangerous.”

He smiled at her faith in him. “That’s not what I mean,” he said. “Though we should probably talk about that, too.”

Rose shut the fridge door and then leaned back against it, empty-handed. She stared at him suspiciously. “Yeah? Then what did you mean?”

“I’m going to be a target,” he said, thoughts momentarily straying to the Family of Blood. Ooh, not a good memory. “You remember what it was like, that Christmas after I regenerated. Any species with half a brain will seek me out right away. A half-Time Lord who contains extensive knowledge of the universe? A _defenceless_ Time Lord without a TARDIS?”

Rose took that in. “So… what? You’re gonna spend your life being hunted by aliens?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” He paused. “Rose, I can’t protect you anymore. Not like this.”

“Oh,” she said knowingly, like she’d hit on the real reason he was worried. “I see.”

He felt a stab of frustration. “And I’m _telling_ you,” he said, putting up his hands. “Not making any decisions. Just… telling you.”

“Yeah,” Rose said, smiling. “Well, I’m not going anywhere, so you can forget that.”

“Right. I reckoned you might say something like that.” They shared a smile, but then the Doctor pushed on, “It’s not just you. If I stay here, I’m putting all of you in danger—Jackie, Pete, and Tony. That’s not right.”

Rose pushed herself off the refrigerator and went over to him. “Let me worry about that,” she said gently. “Dad’s a pretty important bloke, yeah? We’re used to all sorts of threats on his life. I’ll talk to them—see if we can maybe do something about tightening security.”

She reached up to touch him and he instinctively moved into her touch, sighing when her fingers slipped into his hair. “I should be able to get something rigged up… using the sonic…” His thoughts were all jumbled up. Blimey, it was hard to think when she was touching him.

“What about you, Doctor? If you’re the target of some sort of outer space bounty hunter things…”

“Oh, I’ll do what I’ve always done. Sort of… make it up as I go along.”

Rose’s fingers tightened in his hair. “One heart,” she reminded him. “You’ve got to be more careful now.”

“Which is why…” he said, taking hold of her wrist and stopping her very distracting hair playing. “I’ve got you to come rescue me.”

Rose grinned at him. Her arms found their way around his neck and she stood on tiptoes to press her lips to his.

“C’mon,” she said, pulling away. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

“Long day?” he said blankly, hoping that it might be some sort of code for heading back to their bedroom.

“Shopping, of course,” Rose said, grin widening into something that was positively predatory. His stomach dropped. That did not sound as fun as the “heading back to their bedroom” plan. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the kitchen. “If you’re gonna go and get kidnapped by aliens after your brain, you’ll at least want to dress properly.”

[Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/25983.html#cutid1)


	4. DW Fic: Plotting a New Course (4/4) Ten II/Rose

**Title** : Plotting a New Course (4/4)  
 **Disclaimer** : I don’t own Doctor Who.  
 **Pairing/Characters** : Ten II/Rose  
 **Summary** : _“Is that…?” Rose began.  
The floor shook, and there was a mechanic sound, like two heavy plates of armour rubbing against each other. “Cybermen,” he said in confirmation._  
 **Rating** : PG13  
 **Spoilers** : Through Journey’s End  
 **Word Count** : 6,800  
 **A/N** : I decided that this fic needed more angst and action. Hopefully this chapter has a bit of both.  
 **A/N2** : Thank you to [](http://mrv3000.livejournal.com/profile)[**mrv3000**](http://mrv3000.livejournal.com/) for the beta read and for listening to me whine about this fic for three weeks. Thank you to [](http://shinyopals.livejournal.com/profile)[**shinyopals**](http://shinyopals.livejournal.com/) for the beta and Brit-pick. I promise I will never call a British shopping centre a mall ever, ever again. :D

([Chapter One](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/24749.html)) ([Chapter Two](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/24873.html))([Chapter Three](http://community.livejournal.com/teawiles/25556.html#cutid1))

“It’s quiet,” the Doctor said, peering out of the car’s window as they drove by empty sidewalks and abandoned streets. “ _Too_ quiet.”

“The Darkness lasted months on this world,” Rose reminded him. “People are scared, that’s all.”

The Doctor made a “hmm” noise in agreement and then went back to studying the street, obviously perturbed. Well, that was him, wasn’t it? The Doctor loved making new friends. A world without people probably terrified him. She’d barely even noticed the quiet. Spending the last few years practically living at Torchwood hadn’t exactly done wonders for her social life.

“Rose,” said the Doctor, breaking the silence. “I think we’re being followed.”

Rose glanced in the rear-view mirror. “I know.”

“Not very stealthy of them, is it? On a big empty road like this?” He began sorting through his pockets. “Let’s see… I’ve got a package of crackers, a wind-up toy Santa Claus, a piece of aluminium foil, a—”

“It’s all right,” said Rose. “It’s only a journalist.”

The Doctor stopped his rifling. “I’m sorry?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I’m Pete Tyler’s mysterious daughter. The Vitex heiress who appeared out of thin air.” She pushed down on the accelerator, hands clutching the steering wheel tighter. “I’m rich and I’m single. Why do you think they’re following us? People still love reading the tabloids.”

The Doctor cricked his neck around to check behind them before turning back to her. “Single?”

“Well, there was that one bloke—Gary from accounting, but that was only a few dates, and besides, he sort of smelled… weird.”

“Gary? Accounting? You had a Gary from accounting?”

“Yeah, and he got splashed all over the tabloids for two weeks straight. I reckon that would have scared him off even if I…”

“What?” said the Doctor. “Even if…?”

“I’d been anywhere near ready to move on,” Rose said, blushing. “Listen, they’re annoying, but it sort of comes with my life.”

“Right,” said the Doctor, after a pause. And then, “ _Really_? Gary? From accounting?”

“ _Doctor_ ,” Rose said, trying hard to sound stern, but fighting back a smile. “It didn’t mean anything, yeah?”

The Doctor didn’t answer. He dug around in his pockets again, and then finally emerged with the sonic screwdriver. He muttered a quick “Ha!” and then pointed it behind him. He stared fixedly at the road, and a second later Rose heard the sonic screwdriver buzz to life.

She glanced in the rear-view mirror. The car tailing them jerked and then began to slow down, growing further and further behind them. The Doctor twirled the sonic screwdriver once before putting it back in his pocket.

Rose frowned. “You just broke about a thousand Torchwood regulations.”

She could sense him studying her. “Since when do you care about enforcing Torchwood regulations?”

There was a hint of accusation in his tone and Rose kept her gaze firmly on the road. “I do work for them.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“It’s not like it was in the other universe,” Rose said defensively. “I wouldn’t work for them if it was.”

“I know that.”

“Then why…?”

He sighed, and then, in a tone that suggested it was obvious, said, “I’m a traveller, Rose—or was a traveller, anyway. New planets, new stars—there’s a whole universe out there to be explored. But you lot, with your Torchwood, it’s not about exploring, it’s not about meeting new forms of life, it’s about defending what’s yours, plain and simple.”

Rose couldn’t stop her snort. “Oh, come on. It’s not like you’ve never put yourself in charge of defending the Earth. Don’t you think we have an interest in seeing what else is out there, Doctor? We’ve just… got to protect ourselves at the same time.” She paused. “You just hate the thought of doing paperwork.”

“I don’t sit in an enclosed laboratory building weapons and locking other beings up in cages.”

Rose made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat, but had to admit that maybe he had a point. He’d probably hate every minute of working for Torchwood.

“Still,” the Doctor continued, “I don’t like the idea of you working on your own.”

“I’m fine,” she said automatically. “I’ve been on my own these last few years. You get used to it.”

“No you don’t,” the Doctor countered quietly. And then, “You’ve got me now.”

She glanced sideways at him as they pulled into the shopping centre’s car park. “Yeah,” she said and found herself thinking of the other Doctor. _He has Donna_ , she told herself, with a twinge of guilt. She hurriedly focused on parking the car.

His hand came down to rest on hers as she pulled up on the parking break, thumb sweeping against the back of her hand. “It’s been difficult for you these last few years, hasn’t it?”

She pulled her hand back and pulled the keys out of the ignition. “I managed.”

She didn’t have to look at him to know that stung. Rose swallowed with difficulty, a tight feeling in her stomach. There were still so many things they couldn’t say to each other. She’d thought, the other night, when they’d _finally_ shagged that maybe… maybe that meant that it’d be all right, that things would be better when they woke up. But it was stupid to think that sex would cure everything.

“Come on,” she said, unlocking the car door. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

He followed her out of the car and they both stopped, gaping at the rows and rows of cars parked in tidy rows around them.

“I think,” the Doctor said slowly, “we’ve found out where everyone’s gone.” He paused and then, with awe, added, “The human race. The world doesn’t end and what do you do? Go shopping.”

Rose swallowed and then held out her hand. “Stick close.”

The Doctor nodded solemnly and grasped her hand, allowing her to lead him into the shopping centre.

******

“Rose, this is _brilliant_.” The Doctor’s hand was warm and sweaty where he clutched hers, and he pulled her along with excitement, speaking over his shoulder as they dodged other shoppers. “It’s all so wasteful, isn’t it? You come and you park your cars in tidy little rows and then sort yourselves into lines where you swipe little pieces of plastic and—ta da—there you have it, a _purchase_. It’s wasteful, is what it is, but it’s also brilliant, and so, so human.”

He grinned at her, his overstuffed bags bouncing over his shoulder.

“I suppose,” Rose said who was feeling more than a little wiped by hour three of their shopping exposition. First, she had to convince the Doctor to try things _on_ before he decided to purchase them—“But the TARDIS always did that for me,” he’d said, puzzled—and _then_ she had to make sure he paid for the items instead of just walking out of the shop with them. She was pretty certain they were now banned for life from entering another Debenhams.

He’d bought all the same things, Rose noticed. He hadn’t even bothered looking at anything else—just went for pin-striped suits and ties and trainers that looked exactly like his old ones. She couldn’t figure out if she found it comforting or downright confusing.

“I never reckoned shopping could be so much fun!” he said. “Must be the Donna in me.”

“What?” Rose said faintly.

“The Donna bits of my personality coming through—the metacrisis,” the Doctor explained, oblivious to the way her heart gave a furious tug whenever she was reminded that he wasn’t _quite_ the Doctor she remembered. “Donna loved shopping.”

His smile turned nostalgic and Rose squeezed his hand. “Doctor,” she began, “did something happen? To Donna? You just… get so quiet whenever you talk about her.”

He came to a sudden stop and Rose stumbled to avoid hitting him. Other shoppers dodged around them, shooting them dirty looks. Rose stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a good look at him over the top of the bags. “Doctor?” she pressed.

“Gone,” he said finally. “That knowledge in her head, everything we did together—it was killing her. He would have had to wipe her memories—take away any mention of me and the TARDIS.”

Rose stared at him. “Are you sure?”

“It’s what I would have done.”

She nodded. “And he’s… is he…?”

“Alone,” the Doctor confirmed.

Rose pulled her hand out of his grip and fiddled with the zipper on her jacket. “I wish you’d just regenerated. Then none of this would have happened.”

The Doctor didn’t say anything.

“I shouldn’t have told you not to,” she continued. “Is it ‘cos of me that you…?”

“Rose,” he said gently, “that doesn’t matter now. He’ll be all right. I always was.”

“Yeah,” she said.

The Doctor blinked at her, hesitated, and then his eyes caught on something over her shoulder. “Ooh, glasses! I need a new pair of glasses.”

And they were off again.

****

Rose was paying for his glasses when the Doctor heard something. A sort of _thunk_ … like something hit the roof and then bounced off. He frowned and stilled, listening intently—nothing, nothing, and then, ah, yes, a ripple like… like…

The calm before the storm.

Rose handed him the glasses. “Here you go, should be able to—”

She was cut off by the sound of a loud blast, coming from the middle of the shopping centre. The floor vibrated, knocking walls of glasses onto the floor, which skidded across the floor and shattered. The two salespeople behind the counter shrieked in surprise, hands flying to their mouths.

“Oh, my god, it’s come back—I knew that was all a load of bollocks about the Darkness being gone—”

“My mum—I left her alone today. If anything happens to her, I’ll—”

“ _Quiet_ ,” the Doctor snapped, holding up one hand to shush them. They immediately clamped their mouths shut. He glanced at Rose and, together, they moved to the front of the shop. They passed a shell-shocked customer who held a pair of glasses in one hand, mouth hanging slightly agape.

The Doctor peered out of the entrance, Rose next to him. People ran down the corridor screaming, tripping over fallen purchases as they struggled to hold onto wriggling children. Crowds gathered at the door, pushing and shoving each other as they tried to exit the building. On the other side was a cloud of smoke. He leaned forward, eyes narrowing as he tried to catch a glimpse of whatever was attacking them.

“Is that…?” Rose began.

The floor shook, and there was a mechanic sound, like two heavy plates of armour rubbing against each other.

“Cybermen,” he said in confirmation.

“But I thought they were all gone,” Rose whispered. “They got pulled into the void, battle of Canary Wharf, remember?”

“How could I forget?” the Doctor said. They shared a sad smile before the Doctor shook his head and focused on the task at hand. “A small enclave must have stayed behind, biding their time. And here we are—Dalek threat eliminated for good, the stars back, and all of London—”

“—celebrating by going shopping at the nearest shopping centre,” Rose finished.

“Exactly.” He ran one hand through his hair and then turned around. His eyes fell on the two salespeople. One had a mound of frizzy ginger hair, the other was a tiny, mousy girl with wide eyes and pale skin. “Right. You lot. You must have some sort of storage room that locks from the inside?”

“Yeah,” said the redhead, snapping to attention. “Back here.”

“Good,” said the Doctor. He pointed at her. “You are going to get inside it and you are going to _stay there_. You will not emerge under any circumstances, not until someone who is _not_ a Cyberman comes to let you out. Understand?”

She gave a quick nod and then turned to open the door behind her with shaking hands.

Rose went over to the frozen customer, a stout man in a grey trench coat and worn hat. She put one arm around him and said, “Hey, you alright there?”

“Cybermen,” the man whispered. “But the government said… they said they were all gone…”

“I’m sorry,” Rose said. “We’ll get it sorted. I promise.”

“In the storeroom,” the Doctor said. “ _Now_.”

Rose frowned at his tone, but he marched around her, pushing past the salespeople to get a good look at it himself. It wasn’t the biggest room in the world, but it was well ventilated. He dug out his glasses and studied the door. If he deadlocked it with the sonic screwdriver, he would make life difficult for anything trying to get in.

“Come on,” Rose said gently, from behind him. He didn’t have to look at her to know she was leading the two salespeople and one customer into the room.

He flicked on the sonic screwdriver and, trying to look occupied, said, “Rose, will you check the light? Make sure it works?” He jerked his head towards the other end of the room.

“All right,” she said.

She squeezed by him and his heart pulled furiously in his chest. She’d _asked_ him not to do this—said it was the only way they could make things work. And he looked her straight in the eye and said he’d try. But he wasn’t like he used to be. He didn’t have the TARDIS. He couldn’t even regenerate. All he had was this stupid, mortal, brilliant human life—and it would mean nothing without her. Absolutely nothing.

Heart pounding, he let his gaze linger on her once and then he backed out of the room. He was at the door when she reached the light switch. As if sensing something, she whirled around, “Doct—”

He slammed the door shut and used the sonic screwdriver to lock it in place just as she began to pound on it from the other side. Her voice was muffled, but he could still hear her. “Don’t you dare. _Don’t you dare_.”

He placed one hand on the door. “I love you.”

There was silence and then the pounding began in earnest. “Let me out!” she yelled. “LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. He backed away, sliding both his glasses and the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket. He strode out of the shop, ignoring Rose’s shouts.

He had a shopping centre full of Cybermen to defeat, after all.

He paused in the shop’s entrance, taking a moment to study the situation. One Cyberman stood in front of the doors, keeping people in. He counted three—maybe four—others who were rounding up terrified shoppers and corralling them into a queue.

The Doctor put his arms behind his head, ducking into the nearest group of hostages. An elderly lady with a green purse turned to scowl at him as though cutting into a queue was a far more serious offence than the threat posed by the Cybermen.

“Hello,” he whispered loudly, “I’m the Doctor.”

“Ruth,” said the woman, voice a low and gravely sound. “I’ve got weapons,” she continued. Her eyes darted to her purse. “Pepper-spray. Could rust the little buggers right up.”

“Well, now, let’s not get carried away,” the Doctor said, backing up a few steps. The pepper-spray would be completely ineffective against the Cybermen, but he didn’t want to be in Ruth’s path if she decided to get tough on queue-jumpers.

“Um, excuse me,” said the Doctor, leaning over the shoulder of the person in front of him. “By any chance, do you know where we’re going?”

A teenaged boy with a lip piercing turned around, eyes darting back and forth. In an excited whisper, he said, “Are you mad? They’ll kill us for speaking out of turn.”

“Nah. They’re not going to kill us. They _need_ us,” said the Doctor. He glanced at the boy’s nametag. “Marcus, is it? Employee at Debenhams? Nice shop—no complimentary drinks, though. There should be complimentary drinks. Anyway—” He nudged the teen in the shoulder. “You’ve got some ideas. I can tell.”

The boy hesitated, but then said, “The food court.”

“The food court?” the Doctor repeated. He cricked his head around. They were moving further and further away from the doors— _and_ from Rose.

She was safe, he reminded himself. Deadlocked in. So long as she wasn’t screaming anymore (and he didn’t think she was foolish enough to keep that up for long), the Cybermen would move on to easier targets.

“The shopping centre’s been doing construction for the last six months,” said the boy. “Said they’re trying to modernize it—newer, cleaner, greener, all that rubbish. Thing is, nobody’s actually been in to see it. People on the Internet are saying that the owner of the shopping centre is gone—that he just up and disappeared one day.”

The Doctor frowned. “They’ve been planning this. For a very, very long time…” he trailed off and then focused on the boy. “I’m a bit… new around these parts. Been living in the Scottish countryside for the last few years. Hippy retreat. All very back-to-the-earth. You know those New Age types. But people here—I thought they spent the last few years fighting the Cyberman?”

The boy snorted. “Well, yeah, but it’s not like we’ve got any weapons handy at the moment. The government won’t let us. Said we have to leave the guns in the hands of the professionals.”

“Guns?” The Doctor scoffed. “The Cybermen need us for their upgrade program. Do you know what that means? We’re the best weapons we’ve got.”

He glanced behind him and sent Ruth an apologetic look before dodging around the teen, making his way up to the front of the queue. “Isn’t that right?” he called, reaching the Cyberman leading them on. “You’ve been in _hiding_ these last few years. What? Too afraid to push forward with the upgrade program? Worried these ordinary humans might wipe you out?”

“Cybermen don’t feel fear or worry,” said the leader, feet stomping against the floor as he turned to face the Doctor. “We have been preparing.”

“ _Preparing_?” said the Doctor. He stopped, waving his arm around him. “You set off some explosions and hoped you’d scare the fight out of them, didn’t you? You’re an army without troops. A species on the verge of extinction. This…” he walked around in a circle, gesturing at the people who were staring at him in rapt silence. “This is a _membership_ drive.”

“You will all be upgraded.”

“No we won’t,” said the Doctor. “What are you going to do? Kill us? You’ll be killing off yourselves.” He clucked his tongue. “Now that is not a good way to welcome new recruits.”

There was a long moment of silence.

Then, as if finally registering that he could be a threat, a second Cyberman stomped over to them. He glanced at the Doctor and then said, “Delete him.”

“Hold on,” said the Doctor hurriedly, putting both arms in the air. “I’m unarmed, see? Perfectly fit to be upgraded.”

The two Cybermen looked at each other uncertainly. They really _were_ desperate, then.

“There’s just one thing you should know,” the Doctor said.

They focused on him again. “What is that?”

The Doctor glanced at the group of humans and then flicked his eyes towards the exit. “RUN!” he yelled.

Nothing happened. The people packed into the queue stared back at him with frightened and uncomprehending eyes.

“WELL, COME ON!” the Doctor hollered. He pointed to the Cybermen. “It’s better than becoming like _them_!”

A collective shudder ran through the crowd and they began to murmur amongst themselves. Finally, the teen from earlier gave the Doctor a thumb’s up before turning and charging. The old lady reached into her purse, drawing out her can of pepper-spray and took off with him. Next to them, the rest of the crowd surged forward, pushing and moving at once, heading for the exit.

“You will be upgraded,” said the Cybermen. “You cannot resist.”

“I think you’re out of luck there,” said the Doctor as the rest of the people in the shopping centre cottoned onto the plan. People dropped their bags as they all surged towards the centre, the mass of bodies heading towards the door.

The lone Cyberman left to secure the doors stepped in front of the group, opening his weapon. “Stop or you will be deleted.”

“KEEP GOING!” hollered the Doctor at the same time as he heard clomping feet behind him.

_Right_. They’d be after him now. He hadn’t really thought that through.

He ducked and ran into the crowd, digging through his pockets for the sonic screwdriver. The Cyberman in front of the door fired once, twice, three times. Bodies fell to the ground, but the crowd fanned out around them, still heading straight for the exit.

There was more shooting, this time from behind him. “Delete, delete, DELETE!”

The Doctor winced at the ensuing screaming, but didn’t dare look behind him. His fingers enclosed around the sonic screwdriver and he looked up, checking the status of their exit. The one Cyberman was no match for an angry and desperate mob. They crashed into him, dragging him to the ground. For a few seconds, all that could be heard was his inhuman screaming and the sounds of metal ripping and dull shooting. Then one person emerged with his severed head, another with his arm. A collective whoop rippled through the shopping centre.

The Doctor ran towards them, dodging lost shopping bags, a Barbie doll without a head, and a pink slush puppy. He pushed and elbowed people out of the way, and they let him pass, some of them muttering about “that mad bloke from earlier.”

Finally, he reached the doors. He held the sonic screwdriver up to the lock and then pushed the doors open. Warm sunlight spilled into the shopping centre, and he jumped back, narrowly avoiding being trampled. The crowd pushed him towards the doors again, but he held his ground, determined to make sure people go out of the shopping centre as safely as possible.

He ducked in front of a fake decorative tree, checking over his shoulder. Good. The Cybermen seemed to have lost sight of him for now.

“Come on, come on,” he said, as he urged people out the door. The boy from earlier ran past, sending him a lopsided grin. The Doctor raised his voice. “Faster, _faster_.”

A small girl slipped on the pink slush puppy and almost tumbled to the ground, but he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back to her feet, nudging her towards the exit. An older woman shot him a look of gratitude and then grabbed her hand, running out of the shopping centre.

The floor vibrated behind him, and the Doctor cricked his neck around, heart jumping when he found three Cybermen bearing down on him.

He looked around and then grabbed the nearest semi-competent looking person. It was the old woman from earlier, Ruth, still clutching her green purse and can of pepper spray. “You,” he said.

“YOU!” Ruth responded, narrowing her eyes at him. “You’re the one who got us into this mess.”

“What…?” said the Doctor. “That is not…” He took her by the shoulders, leaning down so he could meet her gaze. “Listen, I need you to get these people out of here. Get them as far away from here as possible. Get help. Get… get…Torchwood,” he decided reluctantly and then scratched at his chin. “They’ll be going after me.”

Ruth didn’t seem overly concerned for him. “You look like a fast runner. All thin and bony like you are. Not at all like my grandson, he—”

“Yeah, thanks,” the Doctor cut in. “You’ve still got that can of pepper spray?”

Ruth held it up proudly. “Can stop a fully grown elephant, this thing can.”

“Yeah, right,” said the Doctor. “Just… just get them out of here. _Now_.” He turned her around and gave her a little push.

Her entire body shook once, but then she straightened her shoulders and made a beeline for the exit, calling, “Okay, you lot. Follow me.”

“There you go, Ruth,” said the Doctor, unable to stop his rush of pride. Humans really could be such remarkable creatures.

His eyed ticked to the Cybermen—just in time to see them firing their weapons. He ducked. They hit the tree behind him, raining fake leaves down on his head. Someone in the crowd screamed and went down. The Doctor didn’t check to see who it was.

The Cybermen flung people out of the way in their haste to get at him. He supposed they’d correctly identified him as the threat—kill him, demoralize the crowd, get their upgrade program back on track.

Not a bad plan, really. He _was_ quite good.

The Doctor shook himself and darted for the exit as the Cybermen fired at him again. This time, they hit the doors just as he ran through them, shattering the glass. Tiny shards of glass pricked the side of his body, and he idly swiped at his cheek, his fingers coming away tinted red with blood.

He blinked at the blood, a sudden sinking feeling settling into his stomach. One heart. One life. No regenerations. If the Cybermen killed him now, that would be it. He’d never see Rose again, never get to hug her or kiss her or tell her he loved her.

How on earth did humans live like this all the time?

Feeling disgusted with himself, he began to run, heading towards the row of parked cars. He checked once over his shoulder, startled to see that the Cybermen had made it to the exit, their metal casings glinting in the afternoon sun.

People were still frantically trying to push their way out of the doors. One Cyberman clamped his hand down on the nearest woman’s shoulder, and she began to scream and writhe as he electrocuted her. She went down with a slump. The rest of the people automatically parted to let the Cybermen through, some falling down to their knees as they began to sob.

The Doctor reached the first car, a tiny red one with a football shaped air freshener dangling from the rear-view mirror. He ducked down behind it, flinching when the Cybermen’s firepower slammed into it a moment later.

He hissed, the car suddenly hot to the touch and stumbled back to his feet. He ran to the next car, legs and lungs burning. No respiratory bypass system in this body, he noted with a grimace. He’d have to remember that next time.

He ducked down behind the next car, a van with a bumper sticker that said _ALIENS ARE AMONG US_ and drew in a sharp gasp of air. A line of sweat trickled down his brow and he wiped at it with the back of his sleeve.

He heard the metallic sounds of footsteps approaching and crouched down to look under the car. There, he counted three pairs of metal feet. He reached for the sonic screwdriver, thinking quickly. He needed a weapon. Well, he was in a lot filled with cars, wasn’t he? Cars with gas tanks and handy little fuses. If he could just get to the hood of the car…

He began to slide around the van, keeping himself crouched down behind the windows and out of sight. He paused when he heard the Cybermen talking.

“Proceed with the upgrade plan,” said one Cybermen. “He is not important. Reclaim the home base. Secure the exits.”

The Doctor frowned. The shopping as a _home base_? Well, it was certainly original.

Not that he could let them get away with it.

He pocketed the sonic screwdriver and then leaned against the van, breathing in deeply and trying to get his one heart to calm down. He didn’t remember ever being this nervous as a Time Lord. After all, this certainly wasn’t the first time he’d blindly stepped into danger in the hopes he’d think of something brilliant.

Right. He was part human, but he was still the Doctor. He did this all the time. He was a pro—an _old_ pro at throwing himself in the path of danger.

He straightened and ducked out from behind the van. “Oi,” he called to the departing Cybermen. “You’re not going to leave so quickly, are you? We barely even got started.”

 

The Cybermen paused, their backs still to him like they were deciding whether or not he was worth bothering with. The Doctor glanced around and then grabbed the nearest object—a pipe that had blown free of the first car—and threw it at them.

It hit the middle Cyberman in the head and then bounced off. “Delete, delete, DELETE,” said the Cybermen, turning around.

“Oh, that got your attention,” said the Doctor.

“He must be ended,” said one of the Cybermen. “He will not submit.”

“That’s me. Always,” said the Doctor. And then, “I can’t let you have a shopping centre full of people.”

“You cannot stop us,” said the middle Cyberman. “We have out-powered you in every way. You are defenceless, you are alone, you will be de—”

“Now—just… just… hold on,” said the Doctor, putting up one hand. He glanced hopelessly around, mind going blank.

“Deleted,” finished the other two Cybermen. All three of them pointed their guns in the Doctor’s direction.

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something— _anything_ that would buy him a few more seconds of time—but a blast slammed into the Cybermen from behind. There was a loud ripping noise of metal being torn apart and then the Cybermen exploded.

The Doctor was thrown backwards from the force of the blast. He hit the pavement on his back and his head snapped back against the ground, tears springing into his eyes. He breathed out, once, twice, and then shook his head to clear it, slowly pushing himself back up. He managed to make it to his knees before he looked up, eyes landing on Rose Tyler.

Rose Tyler and her very, very large gun.

He stared at her in shock, mouth going dry. That was an image that was… blimey. And he supposedly had a strong moral code against guns.

She looked stunned by the enormity of the blast, but then her gaze landed on him. She froze, eyes searching over him desperately before she fumbled with the shoulder strap of her gun, trying to undo it with shaking hands. She finally managed to dislodge it and then she dodged around the burning remains of the Cybermen, running to him.

She sunk down to her knees in front of him. “Oh, my god,” she whispered, one hand going to his shoulder and the other to his face.

He opened his mouth to tell her that he was fine, that it was only a few bruises, but what came out was only a croak, “ _Rose_.”

She almost looked like she might cry. “You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay now.” Then she hugged him, pressing her nose to his shoulder, arms sliding around him. “You’re all right.”

He clumsily returned her hug, vaguely aware that his limbs weren’t working quite the way they were supposed to.

“Hi,” he managed.

She gave a shaky laugh and pressed her nose against his cheek. “Hello.”

“How did you…?”

“I have a mobile,” she said, like he was completely thick. “I called Torchwood.”

“Oh,” he said. “Didn’t think of that.”

“No kidding,” Rose said. “Come on. Let’s get you home.” She slid her arm across his shoulders and helped him to his feet. “Torchwood will take care of the rest.”

He opened his mouth to protest and then shut it when his body groaned in pain. Okay, human biology was certainly something he’d have to adjust to.

He leaned heavily on Rose as she lead him away, sneaking curious glances at her profile to try and gauge how angry she might be with him.

She gave him a tight, reassuring smile. “You’re all right,” she said, yet again, as if that was the only thing that mattered.

For the time being, he realized, maybe it was.

*****

The antibacterial stung the cuts on his face, but Rose’s touch was gentle. “Tilt your head,” she said, and he obediently followed her directions, eyes sliding in her direction as she worked on him.

“I’m fine,” he said, shifting uncomfortably on the toilet seat as she rifled through the bathroom cabinet. She emerged with a package of band-aids and he stifled a sigh. “Rose—”

She sent him a warning look. “No regenerations, yeah? I’ve been in my share of scrapes over the last few years. I just want to make sure there’s no lasting damage.”

“Honestly, I think that my Time Lord biology makes me less susceptible to—” he hissed as she applied something to his cheek, more firmly this time. He swallowed and switched gears, “What sorts of scrapes?”

She shrugged. “Oh, you know. Aliens invading. Weevils in downtown London. That sort of thing.”

“Really?” he said. “And how often—”

“Dunno. Sometimes a couple of times a week.”

“A couple of times a _week_?”

She stopped what she was doing and pulled away from him. “What?” she said. “You gonna lock me up in a cupboard every time Torchwood calls me in on a job?”

Her words were frosty and the Doctor shifted uncomfortably. So she _was_ angry, then. Very angry, judging from her body language.

“…no,” he finally decided. Her eyes widened accusingly, so he hurriedly said, “Well, maybe. Rose, I don’t know! It just… happened.”

“ _It just happened_?” she said. She threw the rest of the bandages and antibacterial into the cabinet and then slammed it shut. “If I hadn’t called Torchwood, you might’ve…”

“Oh, come on, I’ve faced the Cyberman loads of times—”

“Not as a human!”

“ _Half_ -human,” he said irritably. “Why does everyone always forget that?”

Rose stared at him silently, mouth hanging open. Then, she spun around, walked out of the washroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

“What?” he called. “Rose—what…?”

He pushed himself to his feet and followed her. Maybe if he looked like he was seriously injured again? That had seemed to do the trick last time…

He found Rose in her room. She was making the bed with sporadic and jerky movements, obviously not paying attention to what she was doing.

“I can help—” he began, moving to the other side, but Rose stopped and sent him a withering glare. He backed up. Rose returned to the bed, plumping a pillow in a way that could probably be better described as a mild beating.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and retreated to the other side of the room while he considered his options.

Finally, Rose seemed to run out of steam. Bed half-made, she sunk down on it, hands balled in her lap. There was a heavy moment of silence and then Rose looked at him, biting her lip. “I asked you to promise.”

“I know.”

“And you said—”

“I said I’d _try_.”

“Obviously you didn’t try very hard.”

“That is not…” he trailed off in frustration and then ran one hand through his hair. “Listen, I know that I shouldn’t have and that you’re angry. I’m sorry. I am, but…”

“It’ll happen again,” Rose finished heavily.

He nodded. “Especially since I’ll be working with you. Not Torchwood, mind you. Just you.”

She managed a strained smile, but then she shook her head, shoulders slumping. “How am I supposed to trust you?”

He stood up straighter, her words cutting through him. “What?” he said. “You don’t…?”

“I don’t know.” She scrubbed a hand over her face, thinking quietly for a few seconds. Then, she gazed at him again. “What the other you said, back there on the beach, about you being too dangerous to be left on your own—is that true?”

“No,” he said slowly, wary of the abrupt change in subject, “not anymore dangerous than he is. Maybe less. I’m not the one with a very powerful time machine.”

“But you could build one, yeah?” Rose said. “It wouldn’t be the TARDIS, but Jack used—what was it?”

“A vortex manipulator,” said the Doctor. “Basic temporal manipulation. Not the nicest way to travel, mind you. And still not the TARDIS.”

“Then why…?”

“He knows you well. _I_ know you well. He wanted to give you a reason to… well, to stay with me.”

“Oh,” Rose said, but she didn’t sound surprised. “So that whole bit about you needing me… that was all just so I would stay?”

“What?” he said blankly. “No, Rose. No. That’s not… I did not just say that.” She stared at him doubtfully, and he searched his mind for something that would help her understand. “Rose,” he said urgently. “Those years that I spent without you, they were…”

She managed to muster up a small smile. “They were difficult.”

“Yeah,” said the Doctor. “You’ve got to understand. He did the most amazing, selfless thing on that beach. And also a terribly selfish thing. He won’t have to lose you now, not again.”

She stared at him and he could see her silently puzzling over his words, trying to get at what he was really telling her. “But you still could,” she said. And then, “ _Oh_.”

“I can’t go through that again. And this body—it’s so… so mortal, I feel like… like…”

“A human?” Rose suggested.

He pinched his nose, trying not to look too disgusted. He was rewarded with the sounds of her laughter and he suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted.

“Thing is, Doctor,” she continued, shaking her head, “I could lose you, too. That’s just… that’s a risk we’ve all got to take.”

“I know that,” he said, thinking of a whispered “I love you” in her ear and the way she’d kissed him afterwards—like she didn’t need anything else in the world.

One glance at her told him she was remembering the same thing. “Rose,” he said, trying not to sound too desperate. “Would it be all right if I hugged you now?”

She nodded and he was by her side in an instant. He sighed when he wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her middle before nuzzling her neck. She hugged him back, arms around his neck, her nose pressed just under the shell of his ear.

Which was… hmm, a very sensitive spot. He shivered and he could feel Rose’s responding smile.

“Don’t do that to me again,” she said. And then she released a frustrated breath. “At least… try. I’ve got to trust you if our lives and other people’s are at stake.”

He squeezed her tighter and couldn’t stop his grin, “So I _can_ work with you, then?”

There was a moment of embarrassed silence, but then Rose shifted and she pushed him down onto the bed. He could hear the laughter in her voice. “Of course you can, you dolt. Who else would I work with?”

He wasn’t exactly going to argue with her now firmly on top of him. “Gary from accounting?”

“Boring,” she said, fingers now working the buttons of his shirt. “Though you’ll probably have to let Torchwood pay you. Not that you’ll be working for them.”

“But—”

She cut him off with a kiss. Effective that. Not that he minded.

She pulled away and then nuzzled his nose, eyes boring into him. “What do you say, Doctor?”

“About what?” he said, hands pressing against her back before dipping under her shirt.

“Worth the risk?”

He thought about it. He thought about an empty TARDIS, about two hearts and an infinite number of regenerations, and then he thought about the all-too-quick, fragile human life he now had left.

“Oh, yes,” he said.

She stared at him quietly, pensively, like she didn't quite believe him. He felt a pang of guilt, realizing that locking her in that cupboard had profoundly shaken some of her faith in him. She lifted her hand to his face, fingers brushing over his cheek and he leaned into her touch, waiting for her to make the next move. Finally, Rose nodded, like she'd found what she wanted.

He did the only thing he could and kissed her again.


End file.
